People who love Kea and Kythnos – and they were so many last summer really know well the harbor of Lavrion. However if they have never toured Lavrion they have no idea what they are missing out on.

People who watch quality movies and TV series have a  knowledge of Lavrion without having visiting it. At the site of the Old Mining Company we can now see The Technological and Cultural Park of Lavrion, where a lot of movies and popular TV series were filmed such as “Politiki Kouzina”, “The Café of Joy” and “Masterchef”.

Lavrion is a beautiful city with long history and sightseeings, wonderful buildings and lots of astounding corners. For that reason next time you arrive at Lavrion it is worthwhile visiting a few places to enjoy your coffee, food and drink.

In ancient times we called Lavrion the wider area of metallurgical activity. Besides the name comes from the word Lavra, Lavri which means narrow, passage, galleria, underground narrow passage, metallurgical alley or paved street. The word Lavrion is mentioned by a lot of ancient writers such as Aristotelis, Aristofanis, Dimosthenis, Lysias, Thucydides, Xenophon, Strabo etc. The metallurgical activity in the area started before 3.000 BC and continued incessantly. At the beginning of the 6^th century BC Athens, utilized the mining of Lavrion and cut silver coins the famous “Lavrion glafkes”.

In the area of Lavreotiki marble quarries were in operation.

In 1864 the metallurgical activity started again in the area. After  a lot of tensions, “The Greek Company of Metallurgy” took over the exploitation. The area evolved rapidly and was resided by workers who came from Cyclades (Mylos, Santorini), Crete, Lakonia, Evia, Viotia, Fokida as well as Cartagena Spain and Malta. The business was in operation until 1992, when the factory was bought from the Greek government, was granted to the Ministry of Culture which declared it as a preserved monument and after that was granted to The National Technical University of Athens which founded the Technological and Cultural Park of Lavrion.

The city of Lavrion started being built from the scratch in 1865, based on town – planning scheme. It boasts big squares parklands, free spaces and a unique characteristic, numerous Palm trees which decorate the streets, the squares and the well known Alsos of Kyprianos known as “Palm Forest”. The city has a lot of awesome neoclassical buildings such as the offices of the first metallurgical company where now The Town Hall is housed, the building of the old Town Hall (which is now a Citizens Service Center and a Historical File), the building of friends of Music Society (which is now a Cultural Center). From 1885 to 1956 there was a railway network Athens – Lavrion, which set off at Lavrion Square (at the street 3^rd September, very close to Omonia) and later the railway station of Peloponnese, which ended up at the center of Lavrion next to the current Heron Square.

The Technological and Cultural Park of Lavrion runs in collaboration with The National and Technical University of Athens aiming at the development of action towards innovation and Culture.

The facilities at the site of Metallurgy composes “a natural scenery” for lot of film, TV series and advertisements. The buildings, the deserted scenery, the industrial facilities make up the ideal scenery for every kind of production.

At this site they have filmed scenes from movies such as The Little Drummer Girl – Chan – wook Park, Days of ’36, The Thiasos, The Rebetiko – K. Feris Bordello, The Photographers – N. Koundouros, Ulysses’ Gaze – Angelopoulos, Politiki Kouzina – Boulmetis, Blind Sun – J.A. Nashawati. And lots of TV series such as The Witches of Smyrna, The Cafe of Joy, Ouzeri Tsitsanis, The Red River, Kariotakis, The Life in the Tomb, Master Chef – Greece.

Lavrion has a beautiful port which has recently been regenerated and expanded with regular services to Kea and Kythnos. Lavrion is situated 60km by road from Athens and 9km from Sounion. To reach Lavrion take Lavrion Avenue from Stavros Agia Paraskevi or Markopoulo where you get to either via Attiki Odos or Koropi – Vari Avenue.